Kamala Harris: Can Underestimated Trailblazer Beat Trump?
US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris steps off Air Force Two at Joint Base in Maryland on October 27, 2024. (AFP)
TT
20
TT
Kamala Harris: Can Underestimated Trailblazer Beat Trump?
US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris steps off Air Force Two at Joint Base in Maryland on October 27, 2024. (AFP)
The call that upended everything for Kamala Harris came on a Sunday morning in July as the US vice president did a jigsaw puzzle at home with her grand-nieces.
"The phone rings, and it´s Joe," Harris told radio host Howard Stern recently. "I got up to take the call -- and then life changed."
President Joe Biden's revelation that he was going to drop out of the 2024 White House race and endorse Harris as the Democratic nominee triggered one of the most remarkable transformations in American politics.
Harris was previously saddled with record low approval ratings for a "veep."
Within a few short weeks she created an election campaign out of nothing. She held rapturous rallies, raised more than $1 billion in funds and brought what she called a burst of joy to a party that had given up hope.
But with the now polls showing the 60-year-old in a dead heat with Republican former president Donald Trump, Harris is in the fight of her life to win on November 5 and become the first female president in US history.
"It's not easy. Usually people run for president for two years, and she's just been running since late July," David Karol, who teaches government and politics at the University of Maryland, told AFP.
- Difficult debut -
Harris was a trailblazer from the moment she entered the White House as America's first female, Black and South Asian vice president.
Yet the trail proved difficult at first. Harris faced withering criticism that she was not up to the job of being a heartbeat from the presidency.
Already criticized for vagueness on policy during a failed presidential run against Biden in 2019, she increasingly became notorious -- like Biden himself -- for "word salads."
Tasked by Biden with getting to the roots of the country´s illegal migration problem, Harris fumbled and granted Republicans an attack line about being a failed "border czar" that they use to this day.
But things began to change in 2022. Harris found her voice when the US Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion.
She rallied around the country on the issue and took on an increasingly prominent role in Biden´s second presidential campaign -- with officials privately admitting she was gearing up for her own presidential run in 2028.
Biden also increasingly tasked her with diplomatic missions on Ukraine and the Middle East.
But few dreamed that the moment for her to take a tilt at the White House would come so soon.
Partly that was because Harris had long been underestimated, by some Democrats and by Republicans alike.
Trump would soon find that the woman he called "crazy" and subjected to sexist and racist taunts was a force to be reckoned with. In their only debate she gained the upper hand by taunting the former president.
- 'Momala' -
Harris, however has deliberately steered away from overtly leaning into her race or her gender during the campaign.
When she does talk about her personal background it has largely been about her Indian-born mother who raised her and her sister alone -- while her Jamaican-born father rarely gets a mention.
Or there's her very public affection for "Second Gentleman" Doug Emhoff.
Famously his children Cole and Emma, who are now her stepchildren, dubbed her "Momala."
She has also used their relationship to call out Trump's running mate J.D. Vance for previously describing top Democrats as "childless cat ladies."
But it is more common to hear her focus on her professional history as a prosecutor and then as California attorney general -- and contrasting herself with Trump, who's bidding to become the first convicted felon in the Oval Office.
Harris has also repeatedly brought up the fact that's she's a gun owner, as she reaches out to Republican voters.
Yet there have also been familiar weaknesses. She remains uncomfortable with the media, and her failure to sit for any interviews for several weeks mid-campaign drew Republican fire.
The question now is whether she can put the puzzle together and shatter America's highest glass ceiling.
"I think she has run a good campaign. And if she loses, some people will say 'oh, that's because she didn't run a good campaign' -- and I think that's wrong," said Karol.
Toufic Sultan Recalls to Asharq Al-Awsat Mutual Hatred between Hafez al-Assad and Yasser Arafathttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5122443-toufic-sultan-recalls-asharq-al-awsat-mutual-hatred-between-hafez-al-assad-and
Toufic Sultan Recalls to Asharq Al-Awsat Mutual Hatred between Hafez al-Assad and Yasser Arafat
Arafat and Assad during a celebration of the Libyan Revolution in Tripoli in 1988. (AFP)
Journalists sometimes hear shocking statements—ones they lock away in their memory, fearing their repercussions. Some are too violent, too damaging, or too costly to repeat. Others risk swift denial from those who made them.
That was the case in late January 1987, when Kuwait hosted the fifth Islamic Summit.
Among the leaders in attendance were Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Lebanese President Amin Gemayel, and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat.
I had requested an interview with Arafat, and he agreed to meet. After an exchange of pleasantries, he delivered a series of startling remarks.
“What’s happening in Beirut?” he asked.
“You know the country is grappling with the aftermath of the war of the camps,” I replied.
“No, Ghassan,” he shot back. “This is not the ‘war of the camps.’ The real name is the ‘war on the camps.’ It was personally ordered by Hafez al-Assad. Regrettably, the Amal Movement, led by Nabih Berri, is carrying out the decision, aided—unfortunately—by the Lebanese Army’s Sixth Brigade.”
Arafat must have noticed my surprise at his bluntness, because he raised his voice in anger.
“Assad is trying to finish what Ariel Sharon started in the 1982 invasion but failed to achieve. This is a continuation of Sharon’s mission to eliminate the PLO,” he charged.
Veteran Lebanese politician Toufic Sultan speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Assad: A Souk Al-Hamidiya merchant
I pointed out that his accusations were grave, targeting Syria’s head of state. His frustration only grew.
“Assad is not Syria’s president,” Arafat fumed.
“He is a merchant from Souk al-Hamidiya. If only he focused on reclaiming the Golan instead of blocking Palestinian independence to please America and Israel. Mark my words: time will prove me right. Hafez al-Assad does not recognize Palestine, nor Lebanon. He loathes Iraq under the guise of hating Saddam Hussein.”
Stunned, I listened as he went on.
“What they call an ‘uprising’ within Fatah is a conspiracy orchestrated by Assad and funded by [Libyan leader Moammar] al-Gaddafi. Assad’s only dream is to turn the Palestinian cause into a bargaining chip and to dominate Lebanon.”
As Arafat’s anger subsided, our conversation shifted to other topics.
A few days ago, I met with veteran Lebanese politician Toufic Sultan—a man who carries the collective memory of two cities. Born in Tripoli, he has also witnessed Beirut’s political twists and turns, having been a close associate of Kamal Jumblatt and his son, Walid, as well as former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and his son, Saad.
He maintained ties with Arafat and participated in meetings with Assad and other Arab leaders. His recollections are rich with pivotal moments, particularly from his time as deputy leader of the National Movement, a coalition of leftist and nationalist forces led by Kamal Jumblatt.
Rocky start: Assad and Arafat’s strained relationship
Arafat’s relationship with Damascus was troubled from the outset. After a bloody internal dispute within Fatah, he was briefly detained in Syria, where the defense minister at the time was Hafez al-Assad.
Following the violent clashes between Palestinian factions and the Jordanian army in 1970, Assad came to view the presence of armed Palestinian groups as a source of chaos. This belief shaped his stance toward Arafat and the Palestinian resistance movement for years to come.
Assad grew uneasy when Palestinian factions relocated to Beirut and forged a broad alliance with Lebanon’s leftist parties and nationalist forces. He closely monitored Arafat’s rise as the dominant player on the Lebanese scene.
Despite Syria’s attempts to control the Palestinian file, Damascus struggled to rein in Fatah’s overwhelming influence and Arafat’s growing stature. His power extended to Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, where he effectively held decision-making authority.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Sultan recalled: “Hafez al-Assad never truly respected the idea of Palestinian resistance. I heard it from him directly and from those around him. His prevailing view was that there was no real resistance—just armed groups operating in coordination with intelligence agencies. The divide between Assad and Arafat was clear from the start.”
Sultan recounted an episode that underscored the deep divide between Assad and Arafat.
“One day, Assad told Arafat that Palestine did not exist—it was simply southern Syria. Arafat fired back, saying there was no such thing as Syria, only northern Palestine. There was an attempt to mask the exchange with humor, but the reality was that Assad genuinely viewed the issue through this lens,” Sultan said.
He explained that several Arab regimes sought to control the Palestinian cause, hoping to benefit from it without bearing its consequences.
“From the Baathist perspective, both in Baghdad and Damascus, there was a belief that the issue was too significant for the PLO to unilaterally determine its fate.”
Crackdown on Palestinian media
Sultan recalled a particularly tense moment in the PLO’s relationship with the Syrian regime.
“The organization operated a radio station in Syria. One day, it aired a segment quoting Arafat, including the phrase ‘There is water in my mouth’—a cryptic remark hinting at unspoken grievances. Syrian authorities responded swiftly, sending bulldozers to demolish the station and arresting several staff members.”
That night, Palestinian officials approached Sultan, urging him to speak with Kamal Jumblatt.
“Jumblatt suggested we arrange a meeting with Assad. It was Ramadan, so I contacted Hikmat al-Shihabi, then head of Syrian intelligence and our liaison,” recalled Sultan.
As the meeting neared sunset, Jumblatt sat across from Assad, with Sultan seated beside the Syrian president. The discussion quickly turned hostile toward Arafat.
“The conversation was filled with insults. Phrases like ‘We’ll bring him in’—implying they’d arrest him—and ‘We’ll flip him over’—a reference to how prisoners were beaten—were thrown around. Jumblatt, always polite and measured, stopped eating. Sensing his discomfort, Assad turned to me and asked me to intervene.”
Sultan responded: “Mr. President, the Palestinian fighters are not our schoolmates. We are committed to the Palestinian cause, and today, the PLO and Arafat represent that cause. These men have endured extreme hardships.”
Assad listened and then conceded: “Abu Rashid is right. Consider it settled, Kamal Bey.” The detainees were subsequently released.
A meeting between Kamal Jumblatt and Arafat attended by Toufic Sultan, George Hawi, Mohsen Ibrahim, and Yasser Abed Rabbo. (Courtesy of Toufic Sultan)
Deep-seated mutual hatred
Asked whether the animosity between Assad and Arafat was evident at the time, Sultan did not hesitate.
“Of course. It was well known,” he said. “One way to ingratiate oneself with Assad was to openly attack Arafat.”
He recalled a meeting with Walid Jumblatt, Assem Kanso—the head of Lebanon’s Baath Party—and Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam.
“When Arafat’s name came up, Khaddam abruptly declared, ‘Yasser Arafat is an Israeli spy.’ I remained silent. He turned to me and asked for my opinion. I simply said, ‘I heard you.’”
Khaddam pressed further: “What do you think?”
Sultan replied: “I respect your opinion, and this is your office. But if you want my honest view, it won’t please you.”
The atmosphere surrounding Assad was particularly hostile toward Fatah. Syrian authorities used every means at their disposal to infiltrate the group.
After years of effort, they succeeded in orchestrating major defections, the most notable led by Abu Saleh, Abu Musa, and Abu Khaled al-Omleh. Damascus provided these factions with logistical support, training camps, and other resources.
“Syria had the power to shrink or amplify political movements,” remembered Sultan.
Despite knowing that geography gave Assad a strategic advantage, Arafat was not an easy adversary.
He countered Syria’s animosity with his trademark defiance—flashing the victory sign and invoking phrases like “the Palestinian bloodbath” and “the longest Arab-Israeli war.”
These references underscored the resilience of Palestinian fighters and their Lebanese allies during Israel’s 1982 siege of Beirut, led by then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon.
At the time, many believed that Arafat’s relentless emphasis on “independent Palestinian decision-making” was aimed more at Assad than at any other party.
Damascus, in turn, saw Arafat as dismissive of the sacrifices made by the Syrian army during Israel’s invasion of Beirut.
Syrian officials also suspected that he was waiting for an opportunity to join peace negotiations with Israel—an option that had eluded him after he failed to follow in the footsteps of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in the late 1970s.
